A special pothole patching project on Occidental Highway and Valley Road was completed ahead of schedule, it was reported Thursday to the Lenawee County Road Commission board.

The project started Monday, after temperatures warmed enough to allow hot asphalt patching work. Crews started on Valley Road at M-52. Three patching crews assigned to the project reached Russell Road by the end of the day Wednesday, said operations manager Jason Schnaidt. Nearly 2,200 gallons of asphalt emulsion were used.

Board chairman Stanley Wilson said he has heard some criticism about the attention being given to the Occidental Highway route between Tecumseh and Adrian. He said he believes the attention is deserved due to serious damage suffered over the winter on the county’s most heavily traveled road. The daily traffic count is 10,000 to 12,000 cars.

The repair work was aided by shutting down sections of the roadway and detouring traffic while all three of the road commission’s hot patching crews were operating from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Schnaidt said he had expected the patching to take five days to complete. He said members of the patching crews told him that closing the road made the work go more smoothly.

The patched surface was left somewhat bumpy, said Schnaidt, but drivers no longer are hitting deep holes.

No additional break-up of the road surface has been apparent since the weather accelerated the thawing process in the past week, he said.

Hot patching on other paved roads around the county is to begin next week as weather permits, said Schnaidt. The three crews will be dispersed to work separately, he said, without any road closures.